Meadow Flower
by Kiriona
Summary: I was a happy newcomer to the Smash Mansion. At least until that... thing appeared. Every time it comes after me, it becomes more vicious in its attempt to take my life. I don't know what it wants, but I do know that it won't stop until I'm dead.
1. Prologue

_Meadow Flower_

_Written by Kiriona_

Chapter 1/Prologue

It was around midnight when Marth was rudely awakened from frantic pounding on his bedroom door and loud shouting. Irritated, he sat up in bed and pulled his earplugs from his ears to see what the fuss was. It better have been a life or death situation, otherwise it soon _would_ be to wake him at this hour of the night.

"Marth! Come on! Wake up! Now!" It sounded like Link. Marth sneered at the door.

"What do you want?!" he demanded, slowly getting out of bed. "This better be good!"

"Just open the door!"

"Fine, fine! Keep your hat on." Marth grudgingly walked to the door, unlocked it and opened it. "What is it, fairy boy? Speak!"

"It's Clover! I think… I think she's…"

"Think she's what? Spit it out!"

"For God sake, I think she's dying!" Link exclaimed desperately, lunging forward and gripping Marth's shoulders. Of course, Marth was very responsive to this.

"Dying?" he repeated, as though unsure of what he'd heard. "What in the world are you talking about? She's asleep in her room. I told her to stay there until morning! What is the meaning of this?"

"Marth, I'm not joking! Just come look!" Even though he was skeptic, Marth couldn't deny the panic in his fellow Smasher's voice, or the fear in his eyes. The only time he'd ever seen Link show fear was when something was seriously wrong and there was very little to be done. After some consideration, Marth just sighed.

"Fine, fine. Show me."

"Come on! Hurry!" Without wasting a second, Link grabbed onto Marth's arm and dragged him down the hall. Marth was of half a mind to pull away, call his joke and return to his room, but he quickly changed his mind one they reached the stairs. The first thing he saw was Peach and Zelda standing back, their hands clamped over their mouths, practically shaking. Then he saw several more of the other Smashers standing aside in much the same fashion. The he saw the wreckage. He quickly recognized the gold and crystal chandelier that hung from the ceiling in this hall, only now it was on the floor, smashed to pieces. Several of the stronger ones, Falcon, Ganondorf, Roy and Bowser were all pushing and shoving against it, trying to move it. All of them look panicked.

Then he saw the blood. A rather large pool of it was beneath the fallen chandelier, and right in the center of it…

"No…" was all Marth was say when he spotted her. He was trapped beneath the huge ornament, impaled in several vital places, and by the looks of it, unconscious. Or at least, he hoped it was only that. "No…! Clover!" The unusual feeling of panic gripped the Prince and he immediately darted down the stairs, shoved several others out of his way and dropped down beside the wounded girl, quickly grasping her hand. She was still warm, but growing horribly pale. "Would you idiots hurry and move this thing?!" Marth bellowed at the men attempting the move the chandelier.

"We're trying!" Roy shouted in response. Link quickly came over and joined them in the shoving. Doctor Mario was on Clover's other side, keeping tabs on her pulse, but it was no comfort that he also looked quick afraid. No wonder, either. She was losing too much blood, far to quickly.

"Come on! Shove!" Marth shouted again. This time their was no response.

"Alright! All together! Everything you've got!" Roy yelled to the others. "One…Two…THREE!" With one mighty heave, the Strongest of the Smashers put every bit of power they could behind moving the ridiculously heavy overhang, and it slowly moved, inch by inch, until they at last gained enough leverage to push it over onto its side, freeing the mortally wounded girl from it's deadly grasp.

Marth wasted no time dragging her backwards, out of the blood, and onto his knees. He held her tightly in one arm and placed his other delicately on her cheek. Doctor Mario wasted no time, either and quickly started looking her over.

"Well, can you do anything or not?" Marth demanded of the little round man.

"…No. She needs a genuine hospital."

"Well, then don't just stand there like an idiot! Go call for an ambulance!"

"We already did!" Zelda replied, "But it's a pretty long way from town… It might take them a while to get here!" Marth ground his teeth together. Time. They needed time, but that was the one thing they didn't have. That useless doctor couldn't do anything… neither could anyone else. And there she was, dying in his arms.

"…M-Marth?" It was so faint that he almost didn't hear it. But he would know her voice anywhere. He looked down to the girl in his arms. Her eyes were half open, focused on him. Marth's heart leapt.

"Clover!" A wave of relief washed over him. She was alive. Alive and conscious. Surely this was a sign that she would pull through again!

"Marth… I don't… feel so great…"

"Don't worry about a thing… we've got an ambulance on the way," he told her, trying to keep his voice calm. "You'll be just fine."

"I… Marth… There's something…" she coughed. It wasn't pretty, either. Marth's clothes were now pretty much covered in her blood, but for the first time in a long time, he didn't care that his clothes were ruined.

"Don't speak, Clover. Just conserve your energy," he told her, holding her tighter as he breathing grew more ragged.

"No, listen… I…"

"What did I just say?" Marth interrupted rather firmly. But she persisted.

"I…" she coughed again, this one worse than the first. "…I love you… and…"

"Whatever it is, it can wait until you've been treated." This time, she gave up and seemed to slump further into his arms and closed her eyes.

"…I love you…" Marth wanted to say something to her. Something reassuring. Something that she would have enough faith in to stay alive. But no matter how many time he reworded what he wanted to tell her, nothing sounded right. His normally cleaver use of vocabulary was gone out the window and his genius in the art of language had all but left him. He had nothing to tell her. Nothing to say that would have any positive effect on her. Marth was completely at a loss for words, and utterly confused. And yet all he wanted to say…

"Clover…" He struggled with himself for a moment, trying his best to find a way to put his feelings into a sentence and cleverly disguise it so that it wouldn't be saying it flat out, but it would still let her know. But alas, he came up with nothing. "Clover…I…" He only had one option. There was only one way to say it. One way to let her know. The one thing he had loathed to say to her all this time because he feared the very power they seemed to have…

Well then… so be it.

"I love you, too…" he whispered to her. …But he was too late. She had slipped back into unconsciousness. Distraught, Marth buried his ace in her neck, grinding his teeth together to prevent himself from breaking down completely. "…I love you, too."

* * *

Kiri: And there you have it, folks! The first chapter of the rewritten Meadow Flower! woot! Everybody dance now!

Clover: what the crap! You killed me off!

Kiri: Nu uh. (mumbles) not yet, anyway...

Clover: What was that?!

Kiri: Oh, um, nothing!

Clover: (leer)

Marth: And what the heck! I went from popmous Prince to a crying mess on the floor!

Kiri: Oh come now... You are in loooove!

Marth: Love stinks!

Clover: Yeah! If this is going to turn into one of those ridiculously sappy romances, Then I quit!

Marth: Me too!

Kiri: TOO BAD! I WILL HAVE MY SAPPY ROMANCE STORY WHETHER YOU TWO LIKE IT OR NOT! But anyways, what did you all think of it? Good? Bad? Angsty? Leave a nice reveiw, okies? So until next time... (singing) So long! Farewell! Untill we meet again...!


	2. Loner

Chapter 2

_Several weeks earlier_…

In a lot of ways, he reminded me of my dad. You know the type: stick-straight, always serious, never finding any humor of joy in anything. He was always in his room, alone, doing who-knows-what, only venturing out for food or when it was his turn for a match, or so I've heard.

Well, I don't care if he is Prince Marth the Wonderful, he has to have something of a sense of humor under all that hard dexterity! I got through to my own father… getting through to him shouldn't be a problem, right? Right?!

Sheesh, I've only been here for a few hours and I'm already obsessed with someone!

I couldn't help but stare over at him, from all the way over on the other side of the loooong dinner table. I admit, my end was a bit more crowded. Probably because I was new. Everyone so far seemed so friendly, well, with the exception of a few, but either way, I blended right in.

But… Marth… that was his name, wasn't it? I overheard Peach calling him that while trying to convince him to stay downstairs and eat with everyone else. Anyway, he was all the way on the other side, as far away from the group as he could get, his dark eyes fixed on his food (which, mind you, there was still a lot of) as if bound and determined to break the cheerful atmosphere of the dining room.

"Hey, whatcha looking at?" a voice suddenly came out of nowhere. I quickly whipped around, finding Roy, whom had been gracious enough to let me sit next to him, looking over my shoulder, trying to figure out what I was so fascinated with.

"Huh? Eh… nothing. Just…"

"…You weren't looking at Marth, were you?" he questioned.

"Uh," my cheeks turned red. Wait, what?! Am I… I am! I'm blushing! Why the hell am I blushing?! "Well, yeah… why?"

"Eh, no reason. You just keep looking at him."

"But… why is he alone?"

"Marth? He's always alone. He prefers it that way." I paused and watched Roy take the biggest mouthful of food I'd ever seen.

"Why is that?" I questioned further. I don't know why I was so interested in Marth the Great, but I wanted to know more about him for lord-knows-what reason. Roy shrugged and swallowed. Obviously I wasn't going to get much more out of Roy… I'd have to ask the others a bit later. Resolved, I turned my attention back to my dinner.

"So Clover," I heard Zelda begin. I looked up, my mouth still full. "Where exactly did you say you were from?" I quickly swallowed.

"The other side of the planet, for starters?" I replied.

"Exactly where on the other side of the planet?"

"A small town in the middle of a forest. Nothing big. Although, I did live in Bronze City for a while," I explained.

"Bronze City?" Peach piped up, "Isn't that where that big racetrack is?"

"Huge," I said, taking another mouthful of pasta.

"So you've been to it? I heard it's pretty well-known," Zelda inquired.

"Been to it? Heh, I worked in it. And believe me, working in a stadium that packed with people can wear you down fast."

"Wait, were you one of the racers?" Link jumped in.

"Actually, yeah. I was on one of the lesser known teams, though, which is probably why no one's really heard of me," I shrugged, "No one really cares much for the minor leagues. I eventually got tired of it, so I quit and now here I am."

"Why did you quit?" Zelda asked.

"Yeah, wouldn't it be pretty much the same here as it was there?" Roy added, "Big crowds, loads of pressure, near death experiences…"

"Lumpy mattresses," I joked, which I'm glad to say got a decent laugh.

I pretty much spent the evening doing more of the same. Talking, joking, getting to know, and recalling past experiences. It was all good fun talking with the other Smashers, but for some reason, my thoughts kept returning to Marth. And oddly enough, the one thing I kept wondering was why was he still downstairs?

I mean, you'd think that if he really was the loner that everyone else seemed to make him out to be, he'd have gone up to his room hours ago! I'm pretty sure I heard Peach telling him that he spent way too much time locked in his room. And I'm also pretty sure that Roy said he liked his solitude. And if he's anything like my dad, he'd way rather be up in his room, hidden from the world to brood on whatever men like him brood on, rather that sitting nearby a bunch of giggling fools.

Yet there he was, off to the side, not looking up, not saying a word… was he even breathing? But suddenly he stood up, turned around and quickly left. Well, that philosophical moment was short lived. He was one tough cookie, alright. Tougher than those stale snicker doodles I found in my drawer that time. Those things tasted terrible!

But you know something? I don't care how tough or creepy or scary he is, anyone who wears a big, jeweled headband like he does _has_ to have some kind of sense of humor! Right?

My curiosity was going to kill me.

* * *

Kiri: Well, for some reason, introduction chapters are always the hardest to write. Sorry this one sucked... and sorry for the lack of description, too. I'll get to that later.I am experiencing a severe lack of inspiration for some reason, so we all better hope to crap that my muse returns to me sometime within the next century! And reveiws tend to help, too! So until next time... (singing) So long! arewell! Untill we meet again...!


End file.
